Junior Project Coordinator Consultant - AHGC (EOI) at the African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

African Development Bank Group (AfDB) - Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 80 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering the financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

The Gender, Women, and Civil Society Department (AHGC) invites applications for the position below:

Job Title: Expression of Interest for Junior Project Coordinator Consultant - AHGC

Location: Remote
Consultant type: Junior Consultant

Background

• The African Development Bank is implementing its Gender Strategy (2021-2025) whose objective is to reduce gender inequality and to empower women to actively participate across the Bank’s priority areas (High 5s)1, by addressing cross-cutting challenges around enhancing access to finance, markets, skills, and infrastructure as well as supporting the design and implementation of gender-responsive policies.
• The strategy is anchored in the Bank’s overall vision of supporting Africa’s transformation into a competitive, diversified, integrated, and prosperous continent, fully participating in global trade and investment—a continent whose high-quality growth creates more employment opportunities for all, especially women and youth.
• Launched in November 2019 in partnership with Regional Economic Communities – COMESA, EAC and ECOWAS - the 50 Million African Women Speak Platform (50MAWSP) is a digital platform available via the web and on mobile devices as an application.
• The Platform aims to empower millions of women in Africa to start, grow, and scale-up businesses by providing a one-stop-shop to improve their skills, business knowledge, and access to market and finance.
• Additionally, the Platform offers an excellent opportunity for young Japanese women entrepreneurs to create a partnership, interact and exchange opinions with young African women entrepreneurs through the Platform’s capacity-building tools, such as a webinar.
• Furthermore, such a network can increase the knowledge of Japanese women entrepreneurs on various opportunities available on the continent and support those hesitant to start their businesses in and with Africa.

Objectives

• The Gender and Women Empowerment Division is recruiting a junior consultant to support the organization of the Capacity Building and Training sessions for women entrepreneur users of the 50MAWSP from COMESA, EAC and ECOWAS regions.
• The objective is to leverage the 50MAWSP to promote knowledge sharing and networking to create long-term business partnerships, interactions, and opinions between young African and Japanese women entrepreneurs.
• The consultant will also contribute to preparing Terms of Reference to hire a Senior Consultant to conduct a feasibility study on the Platform and prepare a long-term sustainability plan.

Scope of the Services
The Consultant's duties will include the following activities, in priority but not limited to:

• Coordinate with training firms and COMESA the organization of the capacity building and training session for young women entrepreneur users of the 50MAWS Platform.
• The capacity-building and training will include online sessions (webinars, articles with guides) on digital literacy, market trends, business acceleration programs through e-commerce, digital marketing, and other digital solutions based on each MSME's specific needs.
• The training will also include financial literacy and business management for better performance.
• Build strong relationships with regional and local private businesses, RECs, UN organizations, bilateral and multilateral partners, and Government officials to leverage investment opportunities for gender equality.
• Support negotiation and coordination with public and private partners and stakeholders.
• Contribute to the organization of meetings, training events and seminars.
• Work with procurement officers to ensure training providers have appropriate legal documentation and execute mandates according to the Bank’s procurement rules and procedures.
• Work closely with the SNAR team to organize Networking and Training sessions for women entrepreneurs.
• Prepare funding proposals for component 2 of the project.
• Undertake other duties as appropriate and as requested by her supervisor.

Location of Assignment:

• The assignment will be conducted remotely with travel across Africa countries and Japan if needed.

About the Job

• The Services to be provided under the Assignment include:
  • Provide coordination support in ensuring the implementation of capacity building and training for women entrepreneurs;
  • Provide support in selecting the organization to conduct training along with the provision of online opportunities;
  • Ensure the quality of financial and narrative reports;
  • Support to develop and disseminate financial literacy, e-commerce and 50MAWSP knowledge products including short briefs
  • Support to develop monitoring tools and guidance for training, data collection;
  • Stakeholder engagement. More details on the services are outlined in the annex under “key areas of responsibility in section 3 of the terms of reference (ToR).
• The Gender, Women, and Civil Society Department (AHGC) invites eligible Individual Consultants to express their interest in providing consulting services with regards to the performance and completion of the Proposed Assignment.
• Interested Consultants shall provide information on their qualifications, experience demonstrating their ability to provide the services, as well as a proposed work program with timeline, their understanding of the assignment and the proposed way to approach the assignment (documentation, references for similar services, experience in comparable assignments, etc.).
• The eligibility criteria, establishment of the short-list and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the Bank’s “Policy and Procedures for the use of Consultants”. Please note that interest expressed by an Individual Consultant does not imply any obligation on the part of the Bank to include the Consultant in the shortlist.

Responsibilities of the Consultant

• The Consultant shall perform the Services with all due care, diligence, and efficiency, in accordance with the highest standards of professional competence and skill and shall, in performing the Services, accept, promptly act upon, and comply with, such instructions and directions as may be issued by the Bank from time to time.
• The consultant shall have the overall responsibility for the timely delivery of the various assignments as described above and further prioritized in a work plan agreed with his/her supervisor.
• He/she shall be responsible for the collection and analysis of all information necessary for the achievement of the assignments.

Reporting Obligations

• The consultant will report to the Principal Gender Business Development Officer

Deliverables
The key deliverables of this assignments are:

• Webinar – networking event held to connect African and Japanese women entrepreneurs for knowledge sharing and business development.
• 12-month Training and Capacity Building on e-commerce, business and financial management, digital marketing, financial instruments, and other relevant areas for SMEs.
• E-commerce Rules and Guidelines Manual in three languages (English, French and Portuguese).
• Online business coaching and mentoring program to be embedded on the 50MAWSP.

Profile of the Consultant

• Between 2 and 4 years of proven experience in coordinating capacity building and training program for youth and women entrepreneurs/ related areas.
• Has less than 32 years age.
• Master's Degree in Economics, Entrepreneurship, Management, MBA, or related discipline
• Strong experience in engaging public, private and civil society stakeholders across sectors
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to interact effectively with clients and colleagues from various cultural backgrounds.
• Have a perfect command of written and oral communication in English and/or French.
• Good command of standard Bank commonly used software (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite for word processing, spreadsheets, databases, and presentations); knowledge of SAP software will be an added advantage.
• Knowledge of business environments in Africa.

A shortlisted of three to six individual consultants will be established at the end of the request of expression of interest. The consultants on the shortlist will be judged on the following criteria on a basis of their updated resume.

Duration

• The estimated duration of services is six (6) months with a possibility of extension and the estimated starting date is February 13, 2023.

Remuneration

• The consultant will receive a monthly lump sum rate based on his/her experience. No additional benefits or per diem will be paid.
• The individual consultant is responsible for his/her own health insurance and own accommodation costs

Application Closing Date
3rd February, 2023 at 17:00 GMT

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should submit their Express of Interest to "Ms. Neima Ferreira, Principal Gender Business Development Officer" via: [email protected] with copy to "Ms. Nelly Maina, Principal Gender Officer: [email protected] using “Expression of Interest – Junior Project Coordinator Consultant” as the subject of the email.

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Click here for the Job Description (PDF)

Note: Interested candidates may obtain further information from the email addresses above during office hours: 09:00 – 17:00 GMT